outnet.com - what is wrong?

[AnaViaSalamanca]

I used to buy from them every couple of months. Now everything has gone bad, no proper product description and sizing, search doesn't work, premier service is gone, most of my wishlisted items have disappeared. What is going on with them? Are they going out of business? Anyone else noticed this?

[Fishfingersandwich3]

I have noticed the same! I think maybe they were acquired by Yoox. My last order took ages to arrive and was shipped from France not the UK. Also the returns button has disappeared from the website and when I phoned they explained they have an exceptionally high volume of calls and someone would call me back. A day later and no call.... it’s a shame as their service used to be so excellent and now i’m probably not going to use them again.

[Fishfingersandwich3]

You has me curious so I checked and they have not recently been acquired by Yoox but seem to be branding themselves together more now.

[evespudding]

I noticed the changes to the website, no size measurements now in particular as were really useful. My order took longer as coming from Italy although postage now cheaper. Have returned items today so will see how quickly refunded. Agree that customer service always been great up to now.

[newsfromnowhere]

Me too. Last order the items had poor descriptions and missing info eg what size the model was wearing in the pics. The whole thing felt like a rather shoddy fake version of the old Outnet website, to the extent that I was suspicious and carefully checked the security status to make sure it was legitimate. All seemed ok though. The order arrived fairly fast as per usual. However, when I wanted to return the order, there was no return button on the website so had to email. I had a response fairly soon and sent the whole thing back via DHL to an address in Italy rather than the old returns address. I then heard nothing more. Emailed to request acknowledgment of receipt of return but no reply. Went online to look at my account and the order is marked ‘Items returned’ and it states below ‘once they are accepted at the warehouse you will be refunded’. However, beneath that the individual items all have ‘refunded’ beside them. Confusing. No email acknowledgment of refund as previously. I won’t buy from them again in a hurry! What a shame - have bought loads from them over the years.

[shopafrolic]

The website is shocking. No decent product descriptions, fabric content etc. For days I was unable to log in. They sent me a 20% off code for use one weekend and I couldn't log in to shop with it. When I complained there was no apology.
I finally ordered something last week - it arrived swiftly - from Italy, and the returns label is for Yoox / NaP - I believe they have been acquired by Yoox.
I had to return an item, no way to do this online or via the app - I called customer services and they did it over the phone. Will have to see how long the refund takes.
When I complained about how poor things have been recently I was told that it is all to do with moving their business / warehouses and they hoped things would be back to normal "in a few weeks"
Not sure I'm prepared to wait that long. They must be losing £££.

[queenofarles]

After the merger with yoox ,and the exit of Natalie Massenet, everything just collapsed , NAP CS is no better either.

[AnaViaSalamanca]

Hmm agreed they must be losing loads of loyal customers with this fiasco. I had been buying quite a lot from them but don't think I would do so again in a hurry. I got a 20% coupon as well so was quite excited to order a few things off my wishlist, but then it was all deleted and when I painstakingly found a few things it was all a jumble, things were in stock until I added them to the cart, at which point I got an out of stock error!

To be honest the biggest distinguishing point to me was their premier service. I am too busy and forgetful to arrange returns with delivery companies or take things to post office, and I was happy to pay for them to come and pick it from from my house. They have scrapped that too. Well good luck to them regaining their customers in this competitive e-commerce space...

Does anyone have any reliable alternatives? I am a bit apprehensive of using random discount sites for the fear that they might sell fake or stolen merchandise.

[queenofarles]

You will never find a reliable site anavia they all deal with various suppliers, a big chunk of what is out there is factories seconds,samples,rejects.
What I do is wait for codes, . matches ,HN , mytheresa are always sending out codes, i receive codes on a daily basis . they do great pre sales too, harrods do an excellent rewards card program and they do the best reductions IMO, I save more shopping from the mentioned above.

[shopafrolic]

This makes interesting reading

[Lanaorana2]

It's grim. Some of the typos on NAP make the site virtually unuseable. I pointed it out (nice of me).

Customer services sent such an illiterate email back a week later it was clear they hadn't or couldn't read basic English, let alone write anything.

I now know I couldn't trust NAP with a kids' ABC let alone my cash.

[queenofarles]

lana I phoned NAP yesterday and whoever answered hardly spoke proper English it was difficult to understand what she was saying ,very thick asian accent. Completely helpless. She kept putting me on hold several times,so she could speak to her supervisor. She promised they will answer all my inquires by email, i still have not received a thing. This never happened to me with NAP ,ever!. Very disappointing CS. I wonder if they've moved their CS to overseas.

The slightest dip in service and you lose customers, %20 off, vouchers etc dont help. fast shipping , easy returns ,quick refund and good CS are more important.

I remember reading the whole Natalie VS Richemont saga, horrible how they treated her, was shocked at the valuation of NAP. just £950M.

[Lanaorana2]

Such a shame they've turned gold to shit. Silly, too - retailers are lucky, so much of their workforce is unskilled ie dirt cheap, so it's really taking the piss to cut corners on customer service staff when you're charging prices like theirs.

[MinesaPinot]

I've had a similar experience with the Outnet. Ordered a See by Chloe bag, it arrived (took a week) and was a completely different colour to the one on the website. To be quite honest, I am not even sure that it was an authentic Chloe bag.

I couldn't do a return online - I couldn't even log into my account - so phoned Customer Services and they said they would create an online return and email me. No email. Emailed them the following day from my work email (I work for a firm of solicitors) and miraculously had a near enough immediate response. I returned my parcel via DHL, and my refund has come through, but I won't be using them again.

Quite honestly, I'd sooner wait for the sales or go to somewhere like Bicester rather than order online now.

[Mumsnut]

Wonder if Massenet will set up something new?

I agree, the Outnet has been hopeless lately.

[MassDebate]

They "revamped" their website a few weeks ago. Unfortunately it changed from brilliant with great functionality to completely shit with filters that no longer work. It's the same style as NAP, which is also rubbish.

I'm another long-term customer who used to shop on outnet regularly but I can't abide the new website. They also seem to be adding supposedly "new" stock which is actually months old, and pricing a lot above the price it was going for in the NAP sale.

It's such a shame - first MyWardrobe went and now I find outnet so un-user friendly that I can't be bothered to check it very often. I used to check it religiously for new stock four times a week!

[JessiCake]

Oh that's a terrible shame to hear. I used to love the Outnet - haven't bought anything from them for about 6 months now but v sad to hear it's gone to shit. I must admit I have browsed recently but not bought anything because the website was very slow and/or crashed (and alos cos I have no money at the mo!!) but based on the stories here I will avoid it now.

[mrscampbellblackreturns]

The outnet is shocking now - I also complained and just got a 'bear with us' reply. No idea when new stock is added and wouldn't risk ordering unless I knew it was definitely something I wanted.

I still like nap though and like how they reward loyal customers unlike matches who seem to prioritise sending out codes to people who buy from them infrequently.

[Mumsnut]

Thing is, if I check 'Just In', very little shows. Whereas if I check on individual designers, there is loads more new stuff.

[Mumsnut]

So infinitely more cumbersome to browse.

[queenofarles]

Massenet Is working with the co founder of farfetch. i like shopping from them, but my only concern is how things are shipped individually , like Amazon . Which can be very annoying. But the packaging is nice , and shipping is very quick so maybe I will let that bit pass .

[Mumsnut]

If anything, it's deteriorated even further. I used to spend a fortune but barely ever look at it now. Never mind the limited functionality of the website, there just isn't much coming in to buy

Roll on NM's new venture

[DrowningEveryDay]

I just ordered, not knowing that they changed owners. I was shocked to know that if before I used to get my purchases in three days through DHL, not it has to go to the HK warehouse and then it will be dispatched there. And it will take around two weeks!

I probably should have realised it's going downhill when I asked the customer service chat for measurements and I was told they don't have it because the website does not load from their end. lolol

I have a nagging feeling this would be my last order from The Outnet.

[Growingboys]

Interesting thread. I find it crap nowadays and this explains a lot.

Back to my local shops then...

[Fairylolly]

Agree completely - I have given The Outnet a few chances this year but no longer bother with them for all the reasons others have described.

[Fishfingersandwich3]

Since my last order just before Christmas I have been keeping an eye on the products being added and have not been impressed at all. I emailed them feedback to say I was very disappointed with the delivery and state of the website and asked whether it was just a temporary issue, but never heard anything back. I actually deleted the app and feel I am done with the Outnet now.

Interestingly I read the Yoox Net a Porter financial results for 2017 the other day, and the outnet is highlighted as having lost money. I think it’s on a downwards spiral given the responses here from a lot of previously loyal customers! It wouldn’t surprise me if it disappears entirely soon.